AU2001
Well said and I agree. Spurs are fantastic home team and winning game 1 is huge. Splitting at Phoenix was huge for Spurs. Remember, Spurs will not lose focus against Suns.
gjn23
Joe Johnson coming back may be great but won't it take away some playing time for J. Jackson? J. Jackson has been a STUD. Not sure I want to take away any minutes from him. Johnson is great player and produced in 1st round playoffs but him coming back might not be all great. Plus he might be rusty and coming back from small layoff/injury against Spurs isn't the easiest thing to do.
scott....if you capped the series and thought the spurs role players would play huge, great.....
Thats exactly what I said prior to series starting and after game 1. I said Spurs role players will be getting open shots that they did not get in the Sonics series. I said Sonics played tough defense and caused Spurs matchup problems. Berry pretty much had NO role in Sonic series. Everyone knows Berry can make open shots. Not a surprise. Berry has difficult time making shots with man in his face.
I express and am confident in my opinions. Doesn't mean my opinions are facts or always right. Game 1 went pretty much the way I think the series will go. Berry prob. will not be so great but Ginoble prob. will be more productive. BUt I do think Berry will continue to make open shots. So Suns might defend Berry closer and Ginoble will have more open space. Suns must choose there poison. Leaving Berry wide open is not a good idea. Berry sucked against Sonics but he was not repeatedly left wide open.
Bombs
Sorry I misquoted you saying Bowen sucks. I was in hurry leaving and wanted to quickly post.
What I said was that Bowen's role in this series will be minimized, which I feel it will be. I do not see his role here.
Bowen missed 3 WIDE OPEN 3pt shots in a row. OPEN SHOTS ARE OPEN SHOTS! Bowen IMO is a very good 3pt shooter from the side. He usually makes them if he is open. Today he missed 3 wide open shots. I am willing to bet he will be productive if he gets 3 wide open 3pt shots again. Look at what he did against Sonics behind the arc in couple games. He will make them if he is open. Suns gambled and left him open 3 times and it paid off. Will it pay off in game 2? I bet Bown makes them! Bowen did make couple FG's in the game.
They will need continued production from Barry. If they get it, they will win. Nash had an okay game, but missed some easy ones. I wouldn't call it monster. And they got absolutely zero from Marion.
I expect Marion to have better games but I also expect Ginoble to have a better games. Barry will make open shots so if he is left open, he will make them. He is good at making open shots. That is why he is on the team.
Nash played very good and he surprised me. He was able to get open shots and make them. Of course he missed a few but Spurs did have hand in his face few times. Not like Mavs. But Nash was still able to get open shots which really surprised me. But he had very good game IMO.
What about Jim Jackson making EVERYTHING! Geez. That guy shot lights out and IMO was the reason Suns won if they did pull it out. They guy is a stud. Not sure he can keep carrying the Suns. Even if he does, Suns still lost to Spurs and still had tough time competing with Mavs.
Duncan started game 1-6 shooting. Lets see if he does that again! That 10pt 1h lead might have been 17pts if Duncan started off hot.
Spurs did not play GREAT. They played good and Suns played good. Spurs are better team. The thing that strikes me is can Suns get great games from Jackson, Nash and Staudimire again? If so, that still might no be enough to win. Ginoble is due for huge game and he killed the Suns all year. Parker killed the suns all year. Duncan killed the suns all year. Spurs role players can and will make open shots. ESPECIALLY in San Antonio!!!
Will Amare still shoot great from outside? He is not a good consistent outside paint shooter. Will Nash have an off night? Marion will play better but will Jackson still shoot lights out?
You know who else I think can have huge series if he does play? Robinson. He is awesome offensive player and he will make open shots on consistent basis. He did not get open shots against Sonics and was worthless in series (like Barry) but I am positive he will get them against Suns. Not sure why he didn't play but if he does, I think he can come up huge. He also is not as bad on defense as everyone thinks. Anybody who thinks he misses open shots is kidding themselves. Robinson has great offensive talent. Maybe he gets playing time if Spurs get in foul trouble. Just another weapon for Spurs who "can" step up. He easily could have a Barry type game. If he sucks, Pop can always yank him but against Suns you can't afford bad stretches so maybe thats why he did not play in game 1.
BTW, only player I hate is that Spurs backup PG Urich (however u spell it). The guy sucks. Hate him. He is a major f*** up. But you have to play him because he is 2nd string pg.